Automatic grinding machine

ABSTRACT

A machine for grinding a cutting surface on an article wherein the machine has magazine means for automatically feeding the articles to be ground to a grinding position and means for automatically ejecting the ground articles into a hopper, bin or the like.

United States Patent [191 Simonton et a1.

[11] 3,822,510 [451 July 9,1974

[ AUTOMATIC GRINDING MACHINE [75] Inventors: Robert D. Simonton; Albert A. Axe,

both of Fremont, Ohio [73] Assignee: Crescent Manufacturing Company,

Fremont, Ohio [22] Filed:

Feb. 27, 1973 [21] App]. No.: 336,211

[52] US. Cl 51/96, 51/215 HM, 51/215UE [51] Int. Cl 1324b 9/00 [58] Field of Search... 51/94 R, 96, 97, 215, 216 T,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,470,256 10/1923 Clay ..51/215 UE Primary Examiner-A1 Lawrence Smith Assistant Examiner-Nicholas P. Godici Attorney, Agent, or FirmWilson, Leonard & Fraser [5 7 ABSTRACT A machine for grinding a cutting surface on an article wherein the machine has magazine means for automatically feeding the articles to be ground to a grinding position and means for automatically ejecting the ground articles into a hopper, bin or the like.

6 Claims, 10 Drawing Figures v viewing the machine from the left side or the BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION vIn the general field of abrading machines, attempts have been made to produce machines capable of automatically forming a ground surface on an article. However, the article to be ground was manually manipulated at the grinding wheel station. The manual manipulation and removal of finished articles was costly and time consuming. Further, the manual removal of the work often times caused operators hands to be disposed in the region of the grinding tool, thereby imposing undue hazards on the machine operator.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to a machine automatically feeding articles to the grinding surface of a rotary grinder, rotating the work at the grinder, moving the finished work away from the grinder and automatically ejecting the finished work to a bin, hopper, or other containing device. I

It is an object of the invention to produce a machine for producing a ground article.

Another object of the invention. is to produce a machine for producing a ground article wherein the article to be ground is guided to a rotary grinder, automatically rotated relative to the grinder, and then automatically ejected to a bin, hopper, or the like.

Still another object of the inventionis to produce a machine for producing a ground article wherein the article to be ground is automatically fed to a rotating grinding means and then the finished ground article is automatically ejected from the work holder and moved to another station thereby militating against injury to the machine operator.

. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The above, as well as other, objects and advantages of the invention will become readily apparent to one skilled in the art from reading the following detailed description of an embodiment of the invention when considered in the light of the accompanying drawings, in which:

' FIG. I is a front elevational view of an abrading or grinding machine embodying the principles of the present invention; g 1

F IG 2 is an end elevational view of the machine illustrated in FIG. I; r

I FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary frontal view of the machine illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 taken from a slightly more elevated position than FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary end view of the magazine for the articles to be ground, the supporting bearing assembly, the rack and pinion arrangement for rotating the. magazine, and the grinding wheel when side opposite that illustrated in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary top elevational view of the machine illustrated in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line 66 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is an fragmentary view of the outlet end of the article magazine prior to the ejection of the article from the magazine;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary end view of the mechanism illustrated in'FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the outlet end of the article magazine illustrated in FIG. 7; and

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary perspective view of the mechanism illustrated in FIG. 9..

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED I EMBODIMENT The apparatus of the invention is employed to effectively grind or abrade articles of a wide variety of sizes and has been found to very efficiently grind a cutting surface of relatively small knife-like structures as will be explained in detail hereinafter in the following description.

More specifically, the apparatus includes a base 10 having a floor engaging columnar pedestal 12. A pair of spaced apart vertically extending side frames 14 and 16 have their lower ends suitably secured to the base 10, while the upper ends are suitably interconnected by a horizontally extending frame member 18. A pair of spaced apart horizontally disposed guide rods 20 and 22 have their opposing ends suitably fixedly mounted in the side frames 14 and 16. Mounted on the guide rods 20 and 22 for horizontal lateral movement relative to the side frames 14 and 16 is a carriage 24 which, in turn, supports a bearing assembly 26. The bearing assembly 26 extends through the carriage 24 and includes an outer bearing portion which is fixed relative to the carriage 24 and an inner bearing portion which rotates relative to the outer bearing portion and the carriage to the rotating axis of the bearing assembly 26 for purposes which will be explained hereinafter in connection with the description of the operation of the machine. The articles to be ground are introduced into the hollow interior of the magazine 30 through'an opening 32 and are held in the magazine 30 by a spring biased arm 34. While the machine may be satisfactorily employed to grind a surface on variously shaped articles, excellent results have been achieved with the machine to form a cutting surface on small knife-like articles of the type illustrated in FIG. 7 and identified by reference character A. Axial pressure is maintained on the articles A within the magazine 30 by a suitable follower mechanism 36 such as a piston and cylinder arrangement wherein the piston is driven by the introduction of pressure fluid. It wild be understood that many other devices may be satisfactorily employed to apply the desired pressure on the articles within the magazine 30, such as for example a spring biased follower mechamsm.

The outlet or exit end 38 of the magazine 30 is illustrated clearly in FIGS. 7, 8, 9 and 10. The outlet end 38 of the magazine 30 has an article holder assembly 40 secured thereto having a channel 42 formed in the exposed surface thereof. A pair of spaced apart article holding brackets 44 and 46 are in general alignment with the hollow interior of the magazine-30 and are adopted to receive the innermost article and retain it in 3 a fixed position during the grinding operation. The inner facing edges of the brackets 44 and 46 are provided with facing channels 48 and 50, respectively, which are terminated to form shoulders 52 and 54, respectively. The opposing side edges of the article A to be ground fit within the channels 48 and 50. The rear corners of the articles A abut against the shoulders 52 and 54 to prevent movement thereof in a direction away from the associated grinder 68 during the grinding operation, but are free to move in an opposite direction to be ejected upon completion of the grinding cycle.

A rack 62 is slidably mounted in a slideway 64 which, in turn, is fixedly secured to the carriage 24. A power cylinder 66, having an associated piston rod 68, is mounted on the slideway 64. The outer end of the piston rod 68 is coupled through a pin means 70 to the rack 62 to effect reciprocating movement thereof. The slideway 64 is provided with an elongate channel for receiving a portion of the rack 62 to allow the rack to slide freely in an upand down motion but will prevent any lateral movement therein. Also, the slideway 64 has an elongate slot formed therein to permit longitudinal up and down movement of the pin 70 during the power stroke of the power cylinder 66 and its associated piston rod 64. The teeth of the rack 62 engage cooperating teeth of the pinion 28 to effect desired rotating movement of the magazine 30 within the associated bearing assembly 26.

Reciprocating movement of the carriage 24 along the guide rods and 22 is accomplished by a pair of power cylinders 72 and 74 which are secured to the side frames 14 and 16, respectively. The power cylinder 72 has an associated piston rod 76 which is coupled to the carriage 24 to effect movement in one direction, while the power cylinder 74 has an associated piston rod78 which is coupled to the opposite side of the carriage 24 to effect movement thereof in an opposite direction. It will be understood that the desired reciprocating movement of the carriage 24 could also be effected by a single power cylinder having the necessary porting to positively drive the piston in each direction within the cylinder.

The grinding wheel 60 is mounted for rotation on a journal support 80 and is driven by any suitable drive means, such as an electric motor (not shown). It will be observed from viewing FIGS. 2, 4 and 8, in particular, that the magazine 30 is disposed at any angle to the grinding wheel 60 so that the desired angle of the cutting surface on the article A may be formed.

At the rear of the machine is an article ejector 82 which is secured to the base 10 of the machine by an upstanding support 84. The upper free end of the articleejector 82 is adapted to fit within the channel 42 formed between the spaced apart brackets 44 and 46 an efficient distance to contact the article A which has been ground when the carriage 24 is caused to be moved by the power cylinder during one operative cycle of the machine in the direction of the straight arrow as illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 10.

A chute 86 is disposed beneath the ejector 82 to direct the ejected article to a container 88, for example.

In operation, the articles A on which a ground surface is to be formed are serially introduced to the interior of the magazine 30 through the opening 32. When the magazine 30 is filled with thedesired quantity of articles A, the spring biased arm 34 is allowed to return to its normally closed position to maintain the articles A within the interior of the magazine 30. Normally, the carriage 24 is so positioned on the guide rods 20 and 22 that the exit end 38 of the magazine 30 is in general alignment with the grinding wheel 60 such that the exposed edge surface of the article A to be ground is positioned adjacent the grinding wheel 60 as illustrated in FIG. 7. In a typical operational cycle the exposed edge surface of the article A positioned between the brackets 44 and 46 is caused to make two passes over the peripheral surface of the grinding wheel 60. Since the magazine 30 is mounted eccentrically with respect to the rotating axis of the bearing assembly 26, the exit end 38 of the magazine 30 and therefore also the articles A to be ground travel through an arcuate path over the surface of the grinding wheel 60. The typical path of travel is indicated by arrows in FIGS. 6, 7 and 9.

The operation of the machine is typically commenced by causing the carriage 24 to move to the left as viewed in FIGS. I and 3 by energizing the power cylinder 74 by pressure fluid introduced therein through a solenoid actuated valve which causes the piston rod 78 to move the associated carriage 24. When the carriage 24 reaches a predetermined position, a microswitch is actuated which energizes a solenoid controlled valve to allow the introduction of a pressure fluid into the pressure cylinder 66 effecting a downward movement of the piston rod 68, and the associated rack 62 through the connecting pin 70. At the same time the microswitch is contacted to energize the power cylinder 66, an interlocking mechanism is typically employed to militate against any lateral movementof the carriage during the actuation of the rack 62. Also, in synchronism with the energization of the power cylinder 66, pressure fluid is introduced to cause the follower mechansim 36 to exert a force against the stack of articles A. During the downward stroke of the piston rod 68, the associated pinion 28 is rotated in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in FIGS. l and 3. The typical power stroke of the power cylinder 66 is sufficient to effect a 180 rotation of the pinion 28. As the pinion is moved through an 180 rotation, the magazine 30 is likewise eccentrically rotated about the axis of the pinion 28 to cause the exposed surface of the article A to travel through an arcuate path. At the completion of the downward stroke of the piston rod 68 of the power cylinder 66, the power cylinder 66 is then energized to cause an upward stroke of the piston rod 68 to effect a 180 rotation of the pinion 28 in a clockwise direction as viewed in FIGS. 1 and 3. Due to the eccentric mounting of the magazine 30 and thereby the article A with respect to the center axis of the pinion 28, the exposed surface of the article A is caused to travel through an arcuate path over the peripheral surface of the grinding wheel 60. After the second pass of the exposed surface of the article A over the peripheral surface of the grinding wheel 60 caused by the upward stroke of the piston rod 68 and the power cylinder 66, a microswitch is contacted which typically through a solenoid controlled valve allows pressure fluid to be introduced into the power cylinder 72 to move the carriage 24 along the guide rods 20 and 22 toward the side frame 16.

In synchronism with the movement of the upward stroke of the piston rod 68 the interlocking mechanism is released to allow lateral movement of the carriage 24 and also, the pressure fluid is bled off from the follower the stack of articles to facilitate the ejection operation.

As the carriage 24 moves toward the side frame 16 the upper terminal end of the article ejector 82 is caused to contact theinnermost end of the article A between the inner facing edges of the brackets 44 and 46 mounted on the outlet end of the magazine 30 and will thereby militate against any further movement of the article A. The carriage 24 continues to move to a point where the article A is completely removed from the channel formed by the shoulders 52 and 54 and dropped downwardly onto the chute 86 and thence by gravity into a container 88. At this point in the operation, a new, unground article A is positioned such that the opposing edges thereof are within the facing channels 48 and 50 of the brackets 44 and 46. Then the carriage 24 is once again returned to a position where the article A to be ground is disposed adjacent the grinding wheel 60 and the operation is then repeated. It will be understood that when the carriage 24 moves toward the grinding wheel 60 and completely clears the distal end of the ejector 82, the next article A to be ground is presented intermediate the brackets 46 and 46in a secure grinding position.

in accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, we have explained the principle and mode of operation of my invention and have illustrated and described what we now consider to represent its best embodiment. However, it must be understood that within the spirit and scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described.

What we claim is:

l. A grinding machine comprising:

a grinding station including a grinding wheel;

a magazine for articles to be ground, said magazine 6 having an inlet and an outlet for the articles;

an ejector station including means for removing the articles from the outlet of said magazine;

means for moving said magazine selectively between said grinding station and said ejector station; and means for automatically rotating said magazine at the grinding station to effect an arcuate movement of the article to be ground in grinding contact about the outer peripheral surface of the grinding wheel.

2. The invention defined in claim l wherein said means for rotating said magazine :is effective to achieve at least a 180 rotation.

3. The invention defined in claim 2 wherein said means for rotating said magazine includes a rack and pinion.

4. The invention defined in claim 1 wherein said means for automatically rotating said magazine is effective to rotate the article to be ground through an arc in a plane normal to the plane of rotation of said grinding wheel.

5. The invention defined in claim 1 including article holding bracket-means at the outlet of said magazine,

said bracket means capable of militating any movement of the article during contact thereof with said grinding wheel and allowing ejection thereof at the ejector station.

6. A grinding machine comprising: a grinding station including a grinding wheel; a magazine for articles to be ground, said magazine having an inlet and an outlet for the articles; means for moving said magazine to said grinding station; and means for automatically rotating said magazine at the grinding station to effect an arcuate movement of the article to be ground in grinding contact about the outer peripheral surface of the grinding wheel. 

1. A grinding machine comprising: a grinding station including a grinding wheel; a magazine for articles to be ground, said magazine haviNg an inlet and an outlet for the articles; an ejector station including means for removing the articles from the outlet of said magazine; means for moving said magazine selectively between said grinding station and said ejector station; and means for automatically rotating said magazine at the grinding station to effect an arcuate movement of the article to be ground in grinding contact about the outer peripheral surface of the grinding wheel.
 2. The invention defined in claim 1 wherein said means for rotating said magazine is effective to achieve at least a 180* rotation.
 3. The invention defined in claim 2 wherein said means for rotating said magazine includes a rack and pinion.
 4. The invention defined in claim 1 wherein said means for automatically rotating said magazine is effective to rotate the article to be ground through an arc in a plane normal to the plane of rotation of said grinding wheel.
 5. The invention defined in claim 1 including article holding bracket means at the outlet of said magazine, said bracket means capable of militating any movement of the article during contact thereof with said grinding wheel and allowing ejection thereof at the ejector station.
 6. A grinding machine comprising: a grinding station including a grinding wheel; a magazine for articles to be ground, said magazine having an inlet and an outlet for the articles; means for moving said magazine to said grinding station; and means for automatically rotating said magazine at the grinding station to effect an arcuate movement of the article to be ground in grinding contact about the outer peripheral surface of the grinding wheel. 